Sunday's frustration (hint no fish and stable flies)

[Hudsons20]

Fished Sunday on a neighbors boat, Started SW of Green for 45 minutes, nothing, headed up North of Ballast, caught 1 keeper (#1 Dipsey set at 2/55') and a 6# Cat, Broke 1 line and lost the dipsey and spoon. Weird break, right near the Reel. Also Stretched out a snubber on a fish, but the fish came off so would have liked to see what that one was. Stayed in here with no success, trolled to the line, towards Middle Island and then South, West of Gull. For almost 3 hours did not have a single bite, tried everything with the boat and depths and tackle with no success. Moved and set up SE of South Bass, and caught 4 shorts and some sheep, pulled lines and went home. I did place 2nd in the Fly killing contest with 11 kills to my credit (Yellow fly swatter, overhand twist). The whole boat got 38 flys. Blow day Monday and did not go today, but wind was winding down when I left. One neighbor fished off of Lorain and got his 18 fish on Sunday.

Beautiful day on the Lake! (besides lack of fish and the flys)

[dgf2250]

I’ve had a trip like this three Sundays ago. We had four people in the boat and were able to get 10 rods trolling so we avoided the skunk with two keepers. Each line ran for 5 hours x 10 lines = 50 hours of lure action. That’s 1 walleye per 25 hours of trolling if a single rod had been used. We were among many charter boats so it’s not like we chose a bad spot. I keep hearing about a bite near West Sister. Twice I have ignored that thinking it’s too late in the season to fish that far west. Could it be that the larger fish are not migrating this year and instead are hanging out with last years hatch?

[ttinman23]

What’s the limit on flies. I got a couple double hitters with one fly swatter this year…. Talked to some guys today. They have been doing better around 6pm than during day around SBI…My buddy caught his limit on his pontoon boat right off shore off of Lorain. Two rods off back no boards on rapalas…GL next time.

[Ewdeaton]

There were a lot of boats out past West Sister Island on Sunday morning and fish were being caught. It was slow fishing because the fish were scatttered evenly and not very active. My son and me had 8 walleye keepers out of about 16 caught in 2-1/2 hours of fishing. (It was my sons first time out this year and he didn’t need a license since it was the free Ohio fishing weekend!) The small ones should all be big enough by fall or early next spring at least. We were trolling with bottom bouncers and crawler harnesses of assorted colors. The fire tiger color was our best producer for the day.
Eric

[Golden bear]

I was out Father’s Day morning up on the line NE of Kelleys and managed to get one keeper on a TT30 with a spoon 67 back in 2 hours of trolling with the waves. Heard of a bite father east and pulled up the gear and made the run east since it was so calm. Started trolling with the waves to the northeast again and got 2 more keepers on a Dipseys #30 90 back. Turned around towards home and went into the waves and caught 6 in rapid succession on the same #3 Dipsey 90 back on Scorpion spoons. Also caught 4-5 shorts in that same troll. My assumption is the current was affecting the action or depth of the spoons. I had 8 lines in the water with 4 dipseys and 4 offshore boards with bandits and TT30’s and the dipseys did the heavy lifting. Just goes to show you that you need to try many different things each day to get them to bite. The mayfly hatch hasn’t helped but if they are hungry, they will bite if you are in the strike zone. Hope the next trip is better for ya.

[Skywatcher]

Good detailed report. What size willow blades and bead colors were you using on your harnesses? I thought I had tied every color and style of crawler harnesses, but never a double willow harness. Looks like another trip to Jann's Netcraft is in my future. I'll post the next time I'm out. My boat has been waiting to get in the shop for three weeks now and expect a quote on the damages ( pumping out the tank and carburetor rebuild) later today. Good luck on your next trip.

[Skywatcher]

Good tip on the Coppertone spray. Is it a pump spray or a spray can that you use. I enjoy all the fishing info you share in your posts. Thanks.

[MIKE_OMZIG]

90 back puts the dipsy pretty deep. I should have tried much deeper and moved around but those stupid biting flies drove me crazy so I just headed in after a few hours. Next trip I plan to be better prepared. Thanks for the report.

I was out Father’s Day morning up on the line NE of Kelleys and managed to get one keeper on a TT30 with a spoon 67 back in 2 hours of trolling with the waves. Heard of a bite father east and pulled up the gear and made the run east since it was so calm. Started trolling with the waves to the northeast again and got 2 more keepers on a Dipseys #30 90 back. Turned around towards home and went into the waves and caught 6 in rapid succession on the same #3 Dipsey 90 back on Scorpion spoons. Also caught 4-5 shorts in that same troll. My assumption is the current was affecting the action or depth of the spoons. I had 8 lines in the water with 4 dipseys and 4 offshore boards with bandits and TT30’s and the dipseys did the heavy lifting. Just goes to show you that you need to try many different things each day to get them to bite. The mayfly hatch hasn’t helped but if they are hungry, they will bite if you are in the strike zone. Hope the next trip is better for ya.

[itsbob]

Good detailed report. What size willow blades and bead colors were you using on your harnesses? I thought I had tied every color and style of crawler harnesses, but never a double willow harness. Looks like another trip to Jann's Netcraft is in my future. I'll post the next time I'm out. My boat has been waiting to get in the shop for three weeks now and expect a quote on the damages ( pumping out the tank and carburetor rebuild) later today. Good luck on your next trip.

I'm not quite sure the willow blades are labeled by size.I know the colorado blades do come by size number.I would say the size of willow is 2" long by 1/2" wide.I use quick change cleves with a lip on them.Then gamagatzu #1 hook and a treble behind that.The double willow are good because you can run them at higher speeds than the colorado.Im not sure how much bead color matters,but i use 6mm diameter beads.I like the transparent colors if i can get them.I like orange beads on all my trolling harness and i use a purple bead if got antifreeze blade and use neon yellow bead if using a purple blade.Seaguar 20# flourocarbon tied 6.5ft long.

[Ilovekittens]

Bite is starting to pick back up snagged this Wally in front of Castle depth 36ft, 2.5 mph, 51 ft of line, flicker minnow. I may of dragged him a bit to long